Monday, December 23, 2013

South African ceramic artist, Margot Rudolph (Photo by Eugene Hon)Season's Greetings and HAPPY HOLIDAYS!Hope you are showered with socks and books."One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books." - J.K.Rowling, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.

Stephen H Kawai creates mobiles from natural elements."Many have the impression that creating them is an exact science involving precise weighing and calculation. Nothing could be further from the truth. They sometimes turn out more or less as planned or, in other instances, unforeseen realities necessitate constant reassessment. They can be products of pure improvisation or they may be carefully designed." - Stephen Kawai

"The objects, or what I term "elements", which make up a mobile are chosen with great care since they are not produced by the artist. Each is a sculpture in itself, having been created by the universe, and much of the joy in creating mobiles is a certain degree of control in arranging such elements in three dimensions. " - Stephen Hawai

Fellow South African, Porky Hefer, is making quite a name for himself designing magnificent nests big enough to house humans. They are woven from natural materials in much the same way as a weaver bird weaves his nest.

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Rain by Nazar Bilyk. See website hereIt has rained steadily for several days. A relief for farmers in KwaZulu Natal! We are on the verge of being declared a drought stricken region and farmers are pleading for the increase of emergency relief to save their crops and livestock. We're not out of the woods yet but the sound of rain on the roof is comforting.

Rain by Nazar Bilyk (Bronze and glass) Website here."The figure has a loose and porous structure and relates to dry land, which absorbs water. In this work I play with scale, making a raindrop large enough to compare a man with an insect, considering that man is a part of nature. Moreover, this work concerns the question of interaction and difficulties in coexistence of man with environment,""Almost each sculpture is autobiographical. Senses and questions which fascinate me become fundamental in the creation of 'Rain'. In almost all cases, the sculpture provokes the viewer to look up in anticipation of the same raindrop." - Nazar Bilyk

Ukranian sculptor, Nazar Bilyk with 6 foot tall sculpture, 'Rain'. Website hereRAIN by Raymond CarverWoke up this morning witha terrific urge to lie in bed all dayand read. Fought against it for a minute.Then looked out the window at the rain.And gave over. Put myself entirelyin the keep of this rainy morning.Would I live my life over again?Make the same mistakes?Yes, given half a chance. Yes.

Sculptures by Nazar Bilyk and Anne Gillespie bring to mind our friends in Australia who, not so long ago, were praying for rain to douse the bush fires. I can only imagine the relief they feel when it rains during the dry season.

I love the way David Tress creates atmosphere in his paintings. He scrubs and scrapes, scores, patches and reworks until he is satisfied with the effect.

" .... there are several recent paintings that explicitly deal with flash storms by apparently tearing a fundamentally tranquil landscape apart with downward flashes or slashes of white or blue slanting dramatically across the composition. Sometimes, again, Tress loves to create a turbulent effect by folding or collaging the heavy handmade papers on which most of his works are painted to create an almost sculptural surface." - John Russell Taylor, The Times